June 24, 2005

I was working at the strawberry field today. It was a really hot day, but enjoyable. Something very interesting happened though.

As I said, I was working outside. Tomorrow is the London Air Show, and the Snowbirds flying team was bringing their jets into the London Airport which is just around the corner from us. Several jets turned right overhead of where we were, and as they passed, almost all of the pickers in the fields stopped to watch what an amazing spectacle we were witnessing. However, soon after everyone turned back to the task at hand, I witnessed something no one else saw. Just after the plane passed, a bird flew just about 30 feet off the ground and landed on a branch of a tree. Now, you ask “what is so amazing about that? That happens everyday.” And that is exactly my point.

Those jets that humans made to fly around are powerless without someone controlling it. It is large and cannot simply land wherever it desires. It is inanimate. However, this machine that we humans built somehow fascinates us much more than the millions upon millions of birds that we see in the sky. These birds every day go out, find food, fend for their young, and interact in ways we cannot understand.

Obviously, the birds vs. planes scenario I’m talking about isn’t my main point. So many times we see amazing things happen; things that no human can replicate. And yet we never seem to pay much attention to them because they are just ordinary facts of life. But, what happens when this becomes our attitude toward God? The reality is, He hasn’t changed much in the part of eternity that has passed so far. Do we find ourselves simply passing Him over because we hear about Him every day? Do we pass up opportunities to know Him more because something that we have done fascinates us more than He does? I know I am guilty of this more times than I care to admit. Maybe rather than trying to formulate more formulas and steps to know God better, I should just get back to what I should be doing, which is actually getting to know God better.